


I Know Your Mother Too

by tintatalk



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Chanyeol's just a sociable guy is all, M/M, a friendly man dude guy, byunbaek is friendly too but chanyeol is just FRIENDLY
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-01
Updated: 2016-10-01
Packaged: 2018-08-18 21:21:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,029
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8176490
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tintatalk/pseuds/tintatalk
Summary: Baekhyun has a hidden 'friends with benefits' relationship with the handsome music store employee. Or at least, it's hidden until he finds out that Chanyeol literally knows everyone in the world. Including all of Baekhyun's friends—who, are probably just Chanyeol's friends, really.





	

**Author's Note:**

> written while listening to "all of dem swallow all of dem swallow i'll make all of dem swallow" on repeat
> 
> hope you enjoy <3 tell me what you think!! also i realised that i have no exo-l friends and would really love to make some!! i have so many fic ideas and no one to talk about them to lol. please be my friend <3

Realistically, Baekhyun knows it’s not possible to be friends with everyone in the universe. There has to be limitations, and there are—language and distance being a lot of them. It’s not possible to know literally everyone in the world, but Baekhyun’s not sure if that limitation applies to Park Chanyeol.

Okay, here’s what happened. It starts with Park Chanyeol, as it always does.

Park Chanyeol.

They have a weird relationship. On the cusp of dating but at the same time not really.

They eye-fuck, they flirt and sometimes Baekhyun asks the other out for coffee, but they haven’t actually tied the metaphorical boyfriend knot. It’s a weird little arrangement between them and before Baekhyun’s able to officially call Chanyeol his boyfriend, he doesn’t want to introduce the other to his friends. Not because he’s embarrassed—far from it, actually—rather, he’s worried that  _Chanyeol_ is embarrassed.

Embarrassed of Baekhyun. Which sadly isn’t as infrequent of an occurrence as the small man wishes it was. Damn his ex-boyfriends for making him insecure.

Nonetheless, he really likes Chanyeol. He does. Really. All he hopes is that Chanyeol likes him just as much. And, he guesses, with the way the other is staring at him now—that he, maybe, does.

“I wanna bend you all over my Fender Strat.”

Baekhyun snorts, running his fingers through his hair and flicking his gaze towards Chanyeol. The tall man is standing behind the counter, elbows pressing hard into the wooden table. He’s staring Baekhyun down, hot gaze practically incinerating the slightly older male. There’s honest to God fire in his eyes as he leers lewdly, waggling his eyebrows to complement his seedy smile.

Okay, so maybe they’re more than just flirt buddies. Can he say fuck buddies?

“You know,” Baekhyun moves towards the counter, trailing the tip of his finger along the glossy space and grazing just the edge of Chanyeol’s elbow. “That probably wouldn’t be very sanitary at all.”

Chanyeol leans further forward, and he’s close now, really close. His face is only just a few centimetres away from touching. A long nose slinks up the side of Baekhyun’s jaw, warm puffs of air wafting past his earlobe and turning the cartilage numb.

“Then I’ll bend you all over my Korg Kronos,” his voice is low and it brings a shiver out of Baekhyun, body reacting to the sexy sound on instinct. “I’ll stretch you out, and maybe your body can play a little tune for me.”

If Baekhyun had the brain to stop and think through these pick-up lines/weird flirting/whatever Chanyeol was doing, he’d probably realise just how bizarre and down-right  _creepy_ they are. But alas, he doesn’t have the brain and he doesn’t think he  _wants_  to analyse Chanyeol’s lines, because honestly, they’re kind of working. Minimally. That's what he tells himself anyway.

“Are you just trying to make me jealous that you have all these expensive instruments?”

He drags his face away from Chanyeol, blinking a little wildly as he tries to get back in control of himself. And in control of his own bodily functions. He had been swept away in Chanyeol’s charm for a second there, something that happens far too often for his liking. 

“Mm, maybe,” Chanyeol smiles, resting his cheek in the palm of his hand. “I also want to fuck you too.”

“I would like that,” Baekhyun responds, moving adjacent. They’re close now, almost as close as they were before and he interestedly observes the other’s handsome features.

Chanyeol’s long and angular, cut nose and sharp cheekbones. He has model proportions along with beautiful eyes that seem to burn holes through Baekhyun no matter what. If he’s being honest, he’s surprised that the handsome man isn’t taken already. He’s kind, he’s gorgeous and he’s definitely amazing in bed. Oh well, Baekhyun thinks, pressing a kiss into the other’s cheek. All for him.

“Tonight?” Chanyeol asks a little breathlessly, trailing his lips down to the corner of Baekhyun’s smile. He peppers a few soft butterfly kisses around the smaller man's lips. “Tomorrow night?”

“Tomorrow night,” Baekhyun manages to choke out, somehow—by the grace of God, most probably—feeling Chanyeol continue to press chapped lips against his skin.

Turning his face towards the other, he stares directly into Chanyeol’s sparkling brown eyes, catching a hint of mischief and a hint of something else. Moving closer, Baekhyun leans forward and plants a tempting kiss. Chanyeol opens up for him immediately, lips meshing and tongues entwining, turning their kiss into something that’s a little too heated for a music store. It doesn’t stop them however, too caught up in each other and their raging hormones.

“Okay, tomorrow night,” Chanyeol breathes out when they lean back and Baekhyun pushes a palm into the other’s cheek. His lips immediately curl into a grin when he sees Chanyeol’s soft smile, pressing his thumb into the happy curve.

“See you then,” he says a little later when he takes his belongings and heads towards the exit.

There isn’t anyone else in the store and there’s an urge within him to stay with Chanyeol and perhaps continue to kiss him senseless—but, he forces himself to leave. They’re not boyfriends. He’s not obligated to stay with Chanyeol during his shift. They’re fuck buddies, or something close to that. And if Chanyeol’s not interested in changing that little aspect about their relationship any time soon, then Baekhyun won’t say anything and mess things up.

The only thing he’s sad about, he thinks when he reaches back home a little while later, is the fact that he doesn’t get to tell anyone about Chanyeol. It’s not that he’s physically unable to, rather that he doesn’t want to fall into the trap of thinking about Chanyeol as his boyfriend. God knew how easy it was to do in his head, and he curses himself for doing so, many times in the past.

If he goes and tells everyone about Chanyeol, he’s sure the others would mistake their relationship. They’re not friends with benefits, they’re fuck buddies. And as much as Baekhyun would love for that fuck buddies to turn into something else—something  _more_ —he should stop deluding himself into thinking it can happen.

Regardless, everything’s okay, because it’s not like anyone  _knows_ Chanyeol anyway.

Or at least, that’s what he thought.

*~*

The first time it happens is when he’s walking home.

He doesn’t live far away from university and often finds himself walking to class, something that he likes to call his ‘work-out period’. He’s been doing it for a few years now, muscle memory at this point, and so he doesn’t expect to see anything out of the ordinary when he half-jogs half-walks back home, bag slinking over his shoulder.

What he definitely doesn’t expect is to see is Kris and Chanyeol playing basketball in one of the lone park courts. Kris as in, his  _ex-boyfriend_ Kris and Chanyeol his… his… whatever Chanyeol is.

It shouldn’t be too much of a surprise, knowing that Kris lives near to him—it had been very convenient during the period they were together—but the sight is still shocking. Especially the fact that  _Chanyeol_ is with him, dribbling the basketball down the court and delicately dunking it in like the pro pre-NBA sportstar he apparently is.

“Yes!” He can hear Chanyeol cheer for himself a few metres away, dragging his fist out in a rather crude version of what Baekhyun assumes is a fist-bump. There’s a groan that comes from Kris but Baekhyun ignores it, seemingly focused on Chanyeol and sweat that clings to his muscled arms.

He turns his vision away from the sight, eager to continue walking and to make sure the other two don’t catch even a glimpse of him in the midst of their game. But unfortunately, Chanyeol seems to have eagle vision, a trait he didn’t realise the giant had, and the smaller man winces when he hears the loud call of his name.

“Baekhyun!”

Chanyeol’s  _dripping_ when Baekhyun turns to him, tank top practically plastered to his body in a way that’s more than just a little obscene. There’s nothing left to the imagination with the way his shirt is sticking to him, and Baekhyun’s eyes trail unabashedly over the other’s abs.

Letting out a sigh, he forces his eyes back towards the other’s happy gaze and with heavy legs, he walks towards the two basketballers. It’d probably be way too rude if he just turned and left, and he doesn’t want to hurt Chanyeol’s feelings. He really likes the guy.

“Hey Chanyeol,” he gives the man a smile, turning his gaze towards more-than-shocked Kris and nodding, “Kris.”

“Baekhyun,” Kris practically breathes out his name while the short man in the middle of two giants turns his head to face the ground.

Their relationship had parted on relatively amicable terms—a little yelling, a little shouting but overall quite tame. It was Kris who had broken up with him, who had broken his heart along with it. He’s gotten over the blonde since then, but it’s still weird seeing him after months of not talking to each other. Especially with  _Chanyeol_.

“You guys know each other?” Chanyeol blinks, holding the basketball under his armpit. He’s slightly out of breath, but damned if Baekhyun doesn’t think he’s the most handsome creature he’s ever seen.

“ _You_ guys know each other?” Baekhyun asks, flicking his eyes between the two before staying on Chanyeol. He doesn’t really want to stare at Kris. It’s just, memories, you know? There’s only so much he wants to feel for his ex-boyfriend and nostalgia isn’t any of it.

“We’re on the same men’s basketball team. Been friends since high school,” Chanyeol responds with a large grin.

High school. Jeez. That’s a long time. Way longer than Baekhyun’s relationship with either of the two. Combined, even. How strange is it that he’s never heard them talk about each other before? He had been with Kris for a while, but he’s pretty sure he’s never heard a single mention about a Park Chanyeol. Or maybe he just never paid attention when the other did. It’s true that he didn’t have a reason to remember a Park or a Chanyeol in the past.

“How do you guys know each other?” Chanyeol asks curiously, turning to face his friend.

Biting the bottom of his lip, Baekhyun raises his head towards Kris who is staring back at him with an equally awkward look on his face.

“Ex-boyfriends,” Kris mutters out helpfully and Baekhyun watches as Chanyeol’s eyes widen in surprise. The tall man shoots Kris a look, large eyes blinking rather fiercely.

“Oh,  _oh_ , Baek’s your— _oh_ , oh.”

It should be disconcerting just how many times Chanyeol says the word ‘oh’ and looks at Baekhyun like he’s suddenly figured out the answers to the universe. Shooting a look at Kris who seems sufficiently sheepish, Baekhyun frowns, wondering just what the heck his ex-boyfriend has said about him.

“Yeah…” Kris replies, albeit with a lot more awkwardness than before. Not something that reassures Baekhyun he hasn’t been talking shit. Wow, fuck that guy.

“Whatever he’s told you, it isn’t true,” Baekhyun begins rather childishly because he doesn’t want Chanyeol to get the wrong impression. He’s a good boyfriend, at least that’s what he likes to think. And that’s what he’d like Chanyeol to think too, because he  _is_  trying to bag the other. Kris telling shitty stories about Baekhyun’s bad habits is not the way he wants their fledgling relationship to end. Especially when he wants the other to, maybe perhaps, witness the habits himself. In a relationship kind of way. He wants a relationship with Chanyeol.

“Oh no, it’s not bad,” Chanyeol shakes his head, sweaty hair flopping around his face. “I promise,” he then adds when Baekhyun doesn’t look convinced.

None of them speak after that, and the atmosphere turns even more awkward. Kris is staring down at the ground and Chanyeol can’t stop looking between the two like he’s found a long lost treasure chest or something. In Baekhyun’s opinion, he looks way too intrigued about the relationship his fuck buddy has with his ex-boyfriend. Not enough jealousy at all.

“Well, I’ll catch you guys later,” Baekhyun starts, eager to leave before Kris gets ahold of himself and asks what’s the relationship between he and Chanyeol. Although, with the way the tall man is staring at Chanyeol, he has the feeling that the other is going to be asked that question regardless.

“Oh,” Chanyeol says, and he even physically looks sad that Baekhyun’s leaving. He sends a soft smile that causes the smaller man’s insides to melt. “Catch you, later?”

Later, as in tonight. Oh yeah, he forgot Chanyeol was coming over. Nice.

“Yeah,” he replies with a nod. There’s an urge within him to turn and face Kris too, yet at the same time, he forces himself not to.

But suddenly, before he even knows it, there’s fingers around his wrist, spidery limbs tugging him behind. And without a second to spare, Chanyeol presses a kiss on Baekhyun’s mouth, quick and chaste but nothing less than stomach-tingling. He bites Baekhyun’s lip before he lets go, wide grin enveloping his face.

Baekhyun’s pretty sure his own face is flaming hot, and he turns towards Kris on instinct, taking in the tall man’s shocked expression. Chanyeol is grinning like the cat that ate the canary, and Baekhyun absentmindedly notes just how perfect the other looks smiling oh-so unrestrainedly. A little sheepish but downright mischievous—words that definitely encompass the enigma that is Park Chanyeol.

Nothing comes to mind when he turns to say his farewells to the duo, head out of whack and heart thick in his chest.

Chanyeol just kissed him in front of Kris. In front of the man the other knows is his ex-boyfriend. Was this some kind of weird animalistic claiming? Instead of scent marking, some real, down-right, ‘let’s kiss in front of your ex-boyfriend so I can mark my territory’ kind of primal urges? Of course, Baekhyun can only wish that it’s this because he wants Chanyeol to be all jealous. Instead, the guy probably kissed Baekhyun just because he wanted to.

Wow, that  _really_  shouldn’t be anything Baekhyun should get sad over. Damn him for wanting a relationship so badly.

He blinks, robotically nodding his head towards the two and hoping his movements don’t seem as stiff as he feels. He nearly trips over the pavement and grasps at air to steel himself. Shit, he needs to get himself under control.

When he reaches home, he forces himself not to overthink anything. Chanyeol was probably just the kind of guy who liked to kiss his fuck buddies in public. In front of their ex-boyfriends. Nothing unusual about that at all.

Right?

Oh well, his secret is out of the bag now—at least to Kris, but it’s not like Baekhyun had plans to visit the other any time soon.

*~*

The days pass rather uneventfully after his little tryst with Kris. Or not so tryst. That makes whatever happened with Kris and Chanyeol sound awfully raunchy. Nonetheless, Baekhyun meets with Chanyeol as he ever so does without a care in the world. They do the things they usually do—meet, laugh, eat, fuck. Not necessarily always in that order.

During the time, Baekhyun’s mind instinctively thinks about the other as his boyfriend. But it’s with strength that he forces himself not to. He’s hurting himself thinking of the tall man as such.

It’s difficult to not think of Chanyeol in that way, but he steels himself. He’s in class right now, there’s really no need to be thinking about this at all.

“Hyung,” Sehun whispers from beside him.

Turning, Baekhyun faces his head towards the younger boy. Their lecturer for this class isn’t the most lenient person in the world, and unfortunately there has been far too many times he’s been caught mid-whisper. Of course, he’s not punished like he was in high school, but with the way the grumpy old man stares at him, he’s sure that his assignments are going to drop by a few marks.

“What’s up?” He whispers back as discreetly as possible.

“Tao and I are thinking of buying a new fps game. Help us choose?”

With a speedy glance to Tao who’s surprisingly listening to the lecturer for probably the first time in his life, Baekhyun sends Sehun a quick nod. He’s been friends with Sehun for years, going so far as to taking a first year elective this semester just so he could join the other in his class. He had met Tao as Sehun’s roommate and instantly took a liking to the Chinese exchange student, even if he tended to joke about the other’s pronunciation a lot of the time.

He tries to squash the happy pride he feels at the thought of Sehun thinking his opinion matters when it came to the game market. Chanyeol isn’t meant to come over tonight so if he’s lucky, he’ll be able to pawn food off the two tall freshmen along with a few hours of whatever game they choose.

“Baek-hyung,” Tao clambers towards him after their class finishes, reaching an arm over to hang on the elder’s shoulder. “Kris-ge said he saw you the other day.”

Oh, yeah. Tao was the one who introduced Kris to him.

“Oh,” Baekhyun mutters, his eyes widening. He turns to face the blonde, hoping that there was no mention of a Park Chanyeol. “W-what did he say?”

Tao just shrugs. The movement is heavy and presses hard into the crease of Baekhyun’s shoulder. “Nothing. He just mentioned he saw you.”

“Ah, yeah,” Baekhyun nods, turning away. He runs his fingers through his hair. It’s not like telling them about Chanyeol would be bad, but it is embarrassing. Knowing Sehun, the other would probably nag him until he found out every single detail about the giant.

They continue to walk towards the nearest game store, Baekhyun trailing on the side while the two tall boys bicker amicably. Usually, Baekhyun would be right in the middle, arms around their shoulders. But Tao’s thrown him off, not having thought about  _Kris_ since he saw the two playing basketball together.

Of course, as fate seems to have it, things go wrong almost immediately after.

The store is empty save for the one shop attendant manning the front desk. Sehun and Tao instantly run toward the console aisle with the slightly older boy muttering something about if Sehun chooses Call of Duty he’s going to enable friendly fire in all of their games.

Baekhyun lingers around the PC games section, eyeing the multitude of League of Legends vouchers hanging right next to the Nexon cash. Can he justify spending money on character skins again? Maybe… maybe for Lee Sin—

“Fancy seeing you here,” a voice that haunts Baekhyun’s dreams sounds from behind him.

With a manly jump, and an even manlier squeal, Baekhyun turns to face Chanyeol’s smirking face. He instantly gets the urge to slap the other but instead forces himself to take a deep breath in. Patience. Serenity.

“Warn a man, gosh,” he replies when he’s sufficiently calmed down and his heart isn’t racing like Lightning McQueen on steroids.

“Sorry,” Chanyeol smiles back at him, but he doesn’t look guilty at all. “I was just shocked to see your cute little self here.”

“I am neither cute nor little,” Baekhyun sniffs, turning to face the Riot Points cards.

“Oh,” Chanyeol moves to stand next to Baekhyun, taking a look at the number of cards too. “I’m sorry. I was shocked to see your beautiful and sexy self. Better?”

Baekhyun feels his heart flutter at the words and he bites his lip to stop the manic smile from crossing his face. It should be unlawful the way in which this Park Chanyeol man flirted. It did  _things_ to Baekhyun and his weak heart.

“Better,” he says, feeling glad when he doesn’t sound as wrecked as he feels. “What are you doing here?” he adds afterwards, turning to face the other.

“A friend’s birthday coming up, he likes League,” he points towards the RP prepaid cards, “thinking of buying him some RP.”

“You play?” Baekhyun asks, surprised. Although, in reality he shouldn’t be surprised. They tend to just eat and fuck whenever they see each other. They aren’t  _friends_.

Chanyeol gives him a sunny smile, the same one that causes Baekhyun’s innards to shrivel up like giant prunes. “Sometimes. I’m not very good though.”

“Oh,” Baekhyun blinks, nodding his head once. “We should play together sometime—”

“Baekhyun-hyung, what about—Chanyeol-hyung?”

Mouth dropping open, Baekhyun turns to see a flash of recognition cross Chanyeol’s face at the call, watching as the other’s smile turns friendly. Or at least friendly compared to the intense look of whatever he was sending Baekhyun just moments before.

Sehun bounds over towards the two before Baekhyun can even open his mouth, reaching over to grab the RP from the tall man’s hand.

“Are you really spending money on RP, hyung?” Sehun sounds so disappointed, like Chanyeol’s made some terrible life choices and this is just the cherry on top. “I thought you knew better.”

“Please Sehun, like I’d willingly spend money on League for myself.” Chanyeol rolls his eyes, reaching over to slap at Sehun’s shoulder. And to take the card out of his hands before the overexcited teenager decided to wreck it. “It’s for—”

“Sehun please choose something, like—oh Chanyeol-hyung.”

Tao comes over and rests his arm on Sehun’s shoulder, nodding his head towards the giant.

Meanwhile, Baekhyun watches the scene, mouth dropped open in surprise. He approaches the trio hesitantly, with slow steps, almost as if he’s afraid he’s going to break the atmosphere if he gets too close. It’s not like he knows what’s going on, especially when Chanyeol barks a laugh out at some stupid thing that Tao says.

Opening his mouth, Baekhyun continues to stare at his friends in disbelief. How the heck…

“Seriously hyung, it’s like you do nothing at that music store all day,” Sehun muses, shaking his head in mock frustration.

“Um,” Baekhyun peeps up from the side, feeling small around these giants. Why does it suddenly feel like the same Kris and Chanyeol situation again? Especially considering the fact that Sehun and Tao somehow apparently know Chanyeol. “How do you guys know each other?”

“Through Kris-ge,” Tao says, and of course it’s through Kris. “They’ve come over to our apartment a few times.”

“Sehun and I also lived on the same street when we were kids,” Chanyeol adds after, reaching over to catch the tall boy in the middle of his elbow. He ignores the other’s struggling, smiling bright at Baekhyun. “Small world, huh?”

Small world indeed.

Baekhyun turns to face Sehun who is still struggling under Chanyeol’s monster grasp, mouth opened in surprise. It’s rather strange seeing his friends pretend arguing with Chanyeol, complete with skinship and everything. He had never imagined what it would be like for Chanyeol to interact with his friends, but the result isn’t too bad. Not too bad at all…

“How do you guys know each other, hyung?” Sehun asks once he’s managed to free himself from Chanyeol. His hair is a little messed from the play fight, and Baekhyun watches slightly in awe when Chanyeol sends the other a fond look. Something brotherly. Shit, there’s some real friendship that goes past simple acquaintances here.

“We’re—” Chanyeol begins but Baekhyun cuts him off.

“Friends!” He says quickly, hoping his smile doesn’t look too fake. It’s not that he doesn’t think they’re friends, but he can’t imagine what Chanyeol would say. And, Baekhyun would rather friendzone the other first before being friendzoned himself.

“Ah, yes, friends,” Chanyeol says not even a second later. He doesn’t look the slightest bit sad that Baekhyun’s friendzoned him in front of Sehun and Tao, and for some absurd reason that makes the shorter man feel worse.

“Oh,” Tao blinks and gives the two a quizzical glance, like he’s somehow caught onto Baekhyun’s weird energy. Luckily, he doesn’t say anything, giving them a lopsided grin and asking which first person shooter they’d choose from.

It’s not long before Chanyeol’s checking his phone, apologising to Baekhyun about having to return back to his shift.

“No worries,” Baekhyun smiles happily at the tall man who seems rather sad at the prospect of leaving. He takes his cap off his head and runs his fingers through his hair, looking every bit the handsome model he practically is.

“I’ll catch you later?” Chanyeol asks, eyebrows raised. He’s pointing a finger out like a gun, and without any thought at all, Baekhyun presses his index finger back, ET phone home style.

“Tomorrow?” He doesn’t have anything tomorrow night, and if he knows Chanyeol’s schedule by now, the other should be free from work.

The smile that he sends Baekhyun in return is gorgeous, full set of teeth on display. He looks so happy, Baekhyun’s heart thumps a little unsettlingly in his chest.

“Perfect,” Chanyeol says.

He’s kissing Baekhyun a second later, the same chaste kiss he planted on the slightly older man when they were in the company of Kris. It doesn’t fail to steal Baekhyun’s breath away, mouth opening in surprise in response to the quick bite at his lower lip.

“Bye beautiful,” Chanyeol whispers in his ear, pressing a final kiss on the edge of Baekhyun’s jaw. He swipes his hand down to quickly grab at the elder’s fingers and leaves with a lasting wink.

“So,” Baekhyun can hear the teasing tilt in Sehun’s voice but he’s too dazed to do anything about it. “ _Friends_ , huh?”

Tao whistles from behind and plants another arm on Baekhyun’s shoulder. He’s as heavy as he always is but the older boy can hardly feel the weight, head spinning and body numb.

“I wish I had friends like that.”

“You’re such a slut, Tao,” Sehun rolls his eyes with a snort. He knees Tao in the side and the other jumps with a yelp.

“I’m just saying,” Tao shrugs later, nodding his head towards the front of the store. “Chanyeol-hyung is  _hot_.”

*~*

“So why are you friends with like all of my friends?”

Baekhyun runs his fingers up the side of Chanyeol’s naked waist. He dips a bit lower, fingers catching on the curve of the other’s hip, careful to avoid the one spot on the man’s stomach that’s dirtied with Baekhyun’s  _bodily fluid_. Their legs are already tangled together, pressed against the soft sheets of the bed and Baekhyun lets out a groan when he feels an excess of lube seep down the side of his thigh. He really needs to clean himself up.

“I think you mean, why are you friends with all of  _my_ friends,” Chanyeol responds, moving his head down to face Baekhyun. His voice is a little breathy, a little hoarse, the result of their strenuous activities. Sweat slick hair frames his forehead, dark against the pale skin.

Pressing a kiss into the corner of the other’s shoulder, Baekhyun laughs a little softly.

“Strange huh? Kris then both Sehun and Tao,” Baekhyun muses, feeling the warmth of Chanyeol’s legs seep through him.

“It is strange,” Chanyeol agrees, leaning forward for another kiss. His face dangles above, nose slipping to trace along the corner of the elder’s lips.

“Do you want to go for another round?” Baekhyun breathes out, watching as Chanyeol’s eyes darken at the suggestion. He can feel the other harden just the slightest, and with nimble fingers, he trails his hands below.

But Chanyeol moves away, groaning in anguish and causing Baekhyun to frown.

“I would love to but I have to go,” he says rather sadly, already shuffling to put on his clothes.

Baekhyun moves to sit up in his bed, trying to ignore the unhappy feelings building in the pit of his stomach. He sends a smile along with a shrug, like it means nothing to him, trying to ignore the glide of lube that continues to drip down the side of his leg.

“Okay, then.”

“I need to give that League cash, the RP? To my friend,” Chanyeol explains, although it’s not like he needs to since he isn’t Baekhyun’s boyfriend. “It’s his birthday soon.”

With a nod, Baekhyun just sends the other a look that he hopes says something along the lines of, ‘ _I understand_.’

Chanyeol leaves him with a long-lasting kiss, something that makes Baekhyun’s toes curl from under the bedsheets, along with a more than friendly grope to the hip. Deciding that it’s necessary to just lay in bed for a while longer, Baekhyun sighs when he feels the uncomfortable slick of lube continue to irritate his skin. He throws the covers up and grumbles rather pitifully to himself, at least until he reaches the shower.  

He’s in front of his computer screen not long after, nicely cleaned up and smelling like the body wash he knows Chanyeol likes. The other had commented on the floral scent in the past, saying just how much he loved smelling the flowery aroma on his skin.

“It’s like I’m eating flowers,” Chanyeol had said, teeth pressing into the side of Baekhyun’s hip.

He throws away the thought that he shouldn’t be changing his habits just for Chanyeol, especially for someone who isn’t supposed to mean anything to him. Instead, he focuses on his computer, logging into Skype and quickly messaging Kyungsoo if he wants to play League.

“Yo,” he says into the mic only a few minutes later when they’re both logged into the game.

“ _Hey, I got some RP I can spend,_ ” Kyungsoo says into the mic, voice a little loud. Baekhyun quickly adjusts the sound on his computer, snorting in disbelief.

“You? Buying RP? I can’t believe this,” Baekhyun shakes his head, not even focusing on the fact that the other can’t see it. “I thought you said you’d never buy RP.”

“ _Yeah, I didn’t. I got it as a gift, for my birthday, you know_.”

Oh shit, Baekhyun thinks in his head. He forgot about Kyungsoo’s birthday.

“Oh,” Baekhyun replies with a yip, voice a little high. He clears his throat, “a crap gift though, isn’t it?”

“ _Shut up, I like it_ ,” Kyungsoo mutters, and Baekhyun apologises quickly when he hears how upset the other actually sounds. “ _At least he got me a gift_.”

“Are you trying to say something about me?”

“ _Nothing at all. Let’s just play_.”  

They play two games, losing the first and winning the second. Kyungsoo has a newly bought Legendary skin for Cho’Gath and proudly boasts about it in all chat, talking shit about the enemy’s supposedly crap classic skins.

It’s when they’re in queue for their third game that Baekhyun hears weird muffling coming from the other end.

“What’s that?” He asks, clicking on the screen and absentmindedly looking through his past match history.

“ _Sorry_ ,” Kyungsoo apologises, sounding distracted. “ _I have a friend over at the moment. He’s watching TV.”_

“No worries,” Baekhyun replies immediately, “Do you need to keep him company?”

“ _Nah, he should be good. Or maybe—hey! Wanna play?”_

The deep voice that comes through the line in response sounds surprisingly familiar but Baekhyun just continues to browse through random webpages, stopping on a Buzzfeed article about the ‘5 sex facts your woman won’t tell you!’

“ _Hey, do you mind playing with a friend of mine? I need to cook dinner_.”

“Hm?” Baekhyun says, engaged in the article despite having no interest in the fairer sex. “Oh, yeah, sure.”

He’s reading about how the G-spot doesn’t guarantee an orgasm when that surprisingly familiar voice speaks again, shocking Baekhyun out of his reverie and making him realise that wow, yeah, he really does know that voice.

“ _I’m honestly absolute shit Kyungsoo, I don’t want to disappoint your friend_.”

“Holy fuck…” Baekhyun says, clicking on Skype and looking at the dog profile pic Kyungsoo has. “Kyungsoo turn on your fucking video.”

“ _Huh? What?”_ Kyungsoo sounds confused at Baekhyun’s request but acquiesces anyway like the champ he is.

“What the fuck.”

He thought he was hallucinating but no, he wasn’t. There Chanyeol stands right in front of the camera, and right next to Kyungsoo. He’s wearing the same clothes he wore to Baekhyun’s house, hair still a little messy under the light. The grip he has on the back of Kyungsoo’s chair is surprising and Baekhyun wonders how close they are, especially when Chanyeol reaches over to slump on the other’s shoulder.

Baekhyun bites his lip at the threads of jealousy that brew in his stomach, seemingly compounding at the sight of the two males.

It doesn’t look like the other has noticed it’s Baekhyun on Skype, and that’s probably due to the large headphones covering Kyungsoo’s ears. His voice is a little muffled, mouth far away from the mic, but there's no mistaking this is Chanyeol. Chanyeol, his fuck buddy, the man he had in his bed less than two hours ago. Holy shit.

“ _Baek, you there?_ ” Kyungsoo asks into the mic.

Baekhyun watches as Chanyeol jerks slightly at the call, and he can see the other’s mouth form the word ‘Baek’, like he’s testing the name on his tongue. With a sigh, Baekhyun swallows and asks his friend to unplug his headphones.

Kyungsoo acquiesces once again, and really, what a guy for listening to Baekhyun without even a single question in response. He sees Kyungsoo’s confused expression combined with Chanyeol’s similarly unsure look, and it’s with a loud sigh that he speaks into the mic.

“Hey Chanyeol…”

*~*

“So what you’re telling me is that you’re fuck buddies with this guy, and you didn’t want to tell anyone because you’re not official—but he knows everyone anyway?”

Baekhyun sighs, grabbing his chopsticks and stabbing them sharply into the lone dumpling that remains on his plate.

“Yes.”

“Wow,” Jongdae laughs, mouth curling up like the real life cat boy he is. “Imagine if I knew him too. If he was like my ex-boyfriend or something.”

“Please don’t say that,” Baekhyun responds with a groan. He leans against the table and presses his foot hard into his best friend’s seat.

“What did you say his name was again?”

“I didn’t,” Baekhyun responds dryly, placing the dumpling in his mouth and chewing through his words. “I don’t want to tell you just in case you do know him.”

“Wouldn’t you rather find out now then, rather than waiting and being shocked?” Jongdae points out and Baekhyun groans at his friend’s faultless reasoning. Damn that Jongdae.

“His name is Park Chanyeol.”

Jongdae’s mouth drops open, eyes widening and Baekhyun kicks the other’s chair hard enough this time that his friend actually tumbles over.

“Don’t you fucking—!”

“I was just joking Baekhyunnie,” Jongdae is laughing when he scrambles to get back up, moving his seat back into its former position. Baekhyun ignores the satisfied feelings in his stomach. “Never heard of a Park Chanyeol in my life.”

That’s good, Baekhyun thinks. He was honestly going to bust a nut if Jongdae knew him too. He’s had enough surprises knowing that half his friends knew the guy he was currently fucking. Kyungsoo had mentioned they knew each other through university, having a few classes together. He absentmindedly knew Chanyeol went to the same university as him, but he never actively thought about it, always thinking of the other as that music store guy. Not that university guy.

“So why are you so pressed?” Jongdae asks when Baekhyun continues to stay mum. “There’s something else, isn’t there?”

Baekhyun sighs. There wasn’t initially, except after that  _last_ time, he’s been a little… unsure. Of course, he knows they’re just fuck buddies. He tells himself this each and every time his stomach starts to do weird gymnastics. It’s just, that doesn’t mean that Chanyeol has to stay  _faithful_ right? That means that Chanyeol might have other… boys.

Boys as in, _boys_. As in maybe Kyungsoo is one of those boys. It was with focused eyes that Baekhyun observed the weird 'Chanyeol touching', and he could've sworn it went past a friendly pat. Went past a platonic hug. Chanyeol's long arm cuddling Sehun’s shoulder had nothing in it that was especially raunchy nor romantic, but the intimate swipe against the side of Kyungsoo's shoulder...

“I’m just being stupid,” Baekhyun mutters into his drink, head turning downwards. It’s not his business if Chanyeol’s fucking anyone else. Even if it is his good friend Kyungsoo.

But God damn if it doesn’t hurt.

“Oi,” Jongdae reaches over and presses a hand on top of Baekhyun’s. The look on his face is saying, ‘ _tell me_ ’ and all Baekhyun can do is just that.

Jongdae’s face seems contemplative once Baekhyun expresses his worries. He tells his friend about how he feels so happy around Chanyeol, about how he doesn’t know where they really stand. About how much it hurts to think that the other might be fucking Kyungsoo on the side.

“Baek…” Jongdae says, honeyed voice especially soothing. He opens his arms, sending Baekhyun a look.

There’s nothing more that Baekhyun needs before he instantly crawls into the other’s embrace, resting his head on his best friend’s shoulder. He’s so lucky he has someone like Jongdae. His friend didn’t judge him in the slightest for not opening up about Chanyeol before this.

Jongdae rubs the back of his head, holding him tight. Baekhyun stays in his embrace for a while longer, soaking in all the best friend love he can get.

“You really like him, huh?”

“Yeah…” Baekhyun breathes out, finally letting himself admit the one thing he’s been trying to deny since the beginning. “I do.”

“Well, I think you just need to have a talk with him,” Jongdae reasons after, voice just as soft as it was before. Smooth, with a slight authoritative hint that makes its way through Baekhyun’s hazy mind and tells him Jongdae isn’t going to take no for an answer.

“Yeah,” Baekhyun just agrees, head flopping back on Jongdae’s shoulder. It seems like he’ll have to.

“And if he says he doesn’t want a relationship…” Jongdae slinks back so he can look Baekhyun in the eyes. He looks especially serious now and the slightly older of the two gulps thickly. “You’ll need to break it off, okay?”

With a sigh, Baekhyun continues to receive the love Jongdae is giving him.

“Yeah…”

*~*

Baekhyun arrives at Chanyeol’s music store the next day with sweaty palms.

He had been going over his script all night with an uneasy feeling in his stomach, complaining to Jongdae on the phone about how he didn’t have the guts to do this. It wasn’t that he didn’t want a relationship with Chanyeol, the complete opposite actually. Rather, he was terrified that Chanyeol was going to say no to his ‘going exclusive’ proposition, and be forced to leave with a broken heart.

His heart at the moment, is in his throat when he walks through the front doors, hearing the ding of the bell follow after him. Chanyeol is behind the counter as he usually is, playing on his phone. Probably some crappy phone game Baekhyun’s seen the other play after a round of sex, which is honestly, so embarrassing.

Nevertheless, Chanyeol is handsome—even when he’s playing these crappy games—and he’s especially handsome up close, hair dangling in his eyes. Always so flawless with perfect skin and an angular jaw, like he was directly touched by God or something. His eyes are especially beautiful, and Baekhyun can’t stop the pain in his chest when those eyes catch sight of him, lighting up in happiness.

Oh boy, he doesn’t want to leave this.

“Baekhyunnie!” Chanyeol says a little loudly, in surprise. His mouth turns into a grin, right eye crinkling as it does. It should make him look less beautiful, but it doesn’t. It only gets Baekhyun’s heart beating even faster because that smile is meant for  _him_. “I didn’t expect to see you today.”

“Ah yeah, hi Chanyeol,” Baekhyun responds, sending the other a smile that is hardly as bright as the one he received. Chanyeol immediately frowns, seemingly picking up that something is not right.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” He asks, eyebrows furrowing. Baekhyun has to give him props for realising something’s wrong from the get-go.

“Um,” Baekhyun begins, turning his head down. He rubs at the side of his arm, words dying in his throat.

“Hey,” Chanyeol moves closer and he’s suddenly coaxing Baekhyun’s chin up, forcing the shorter man to look up at him. It’s more than just a little nerve-racking seeing Chanyeol’s beautiful face this close, especially when he’s here to mutter the words that just aren’t coming out. “What’s wrong?” He sounds anxious, deep voice wobbling slightly with a hint of worry.

Baekhyun moves his face away, taking a step back to regain control of his feelings. He briefly sees the look of surprise on Chanyeol’s face at his move. Biting his lip, he counts in his head, trying to get his emotions under control as he remembers just what he had planned to say. Chanyeol doesn’t look very happy now, the slight worry on his face deepening with a single cross of his thick eyebrows.

Before Baekhyun’s able to say anything, Chanyeol speaks slowly.

“Are you breaking things off?”

Baekhyun’s breath catches in his throat at just how  _pained_ Chanyeol sounds. He doesn’t look happy at the thought and it’s this expression that gives Baekhyun a rush of hope. Maybe… maybe Chanyeol might want to stay with him.

“I…” Baekhyun begins before he shakes his head, letting his hair flop around his face as he starts another way. “How… what is your relationship with Kyungsoo?”

There’s surprise on Chanyeol’s face at the question, obviously not expecting an interrogation. He reaches over to graze at the top of his head, fingers sliding jaggedly through his hair.

“Because… Because I don’t want to be together anymore if you’re fucking him too,” Baekhyun ends with a note of finality. His chest hurts at the surprise on Chanyeol’s face, because if they were just friends, he wouldn’t need to look so surprised at Baekhyun’s question, right? He would just immediately blurt out that they’re friends. But he’s not doing that and Baekhyun can only wonder how many times Chanyeol has gone over to Kyungsoo’s house straight after they’ve fucked.

“You… don’t want to be together with me anymore?” Chanyeol asks, and his voice sounds so hurt Baekhyun nearly says the opposite. He bites the corner of his lip to stay resolute though, because this is proof. This is evidence. Chanyeol has been with Kyungsoo.

“I don’t want to be someone that’s secondary. Someone that’s just for you to fuck on the side,” Baekhyun clenches his fist, turning his gaze away.

“Baek—you’re not,” Chanyeol is shaking his head quite thoroughly now. “I’m not—Kyungsoo, I’m not—”

Frowning, Baekhyun turns back to see the other shake his head rather adamantly.

“Then what is your relationship with him? Why aren’t you willing to tell me?”

Chanyeol lets out a sigh, relenting. “We dated when we first started university. We lost contact for a long time but we’ve recently become friends again.”

Oh.

He doesn’t know if that makes him feel better or worse. They may have been broken up, but they’re friends again. And if Baekhyun knows anything, there’s a possibility that they could get back together. Especially with the way Chanyeol had been touching him…

“Do… do you want to date him again?”

“Honestly?” Chanyeol asks and Baekhyun nods, heart clenching a little more. “At first, yes.”

Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck.

“Oh,” Baekhyun breathes in sharply through his nose, biting the bottom of his lip to stop the influx of tears.

“But!” Chanyeol starts again, moving slightly closer to the elder. He reaches a hand out to grab at Baekhyun’s fingers and the shorter of the two lets him. “That all changed as soon as I met you.”

“What?” Baekhyun sniffs, cursing himself for the abundance of wet tears piling in the corner of his eyes. He isn’t meant to cry. This wasn’t on the list.

“Baekhyun,” he pulls the elder’s hand out and traces the grooves of his knuckles with the pad of his thumb. There’s a slight push against Baekhyun’s chin, and he’s coaxed to look upwards, to stare into the large and expressive eyes he’s gazed into oh-so many times in the past. “I like you. I’ve liked you since I met you. And, I’ve been wanting to be with you. Exclusively. For a long time.”

“What?” he croaks out just like a toad, feeling much like a watery amphibian himself. He clears his throats and mumbles the word out again, eyes furiously blinking the tears away.

“I… I thought you didn’t want it,” Chanyeol frowns now, and it’s Baekhyun’s turn to grip at the other’s hand. “You kept saying we were just friends. And it seemed like you were embarrassed in front of your friends. Like you didn’t want to be with me.”

“I thought that was because you didn’t want to be with me!” He says and his voice is louder than before. A little too loud in the empty music store. Shrinking, Baekhyun quietens down, but he continues to stare at the confused-looking Chanyeol.

“I thought you didn’t want to be with me,” Chanyeol says with a snort. He turns his head downwards, curling their fingers together again.

“We didn’t talk about it so I just assumed you didn’t want to be with me officially,” Baekhyun shakes his head, not expecting this scenario. He breaks his hand away from Chanyeol’s grip for the slightest second, just so he can reach up and wipe away at his lost tears.

“I want to be with you officially, Byun Baekhyun,” Chanyeol replies almost instantly, voice sounding resolute. He holds Baekhyun’s hand within his own, face dangerously close and just on the brink of touching the elder’s.

With a smile, Baekhyun reaches up and presses their lips together, surprising the other for once. It’s chaste, as most of their kisses in public are, but there’s something in it that gets Baekhyun’s stomach tingling regardless. Their fingers are wrapped together as they kiss and it’s so awfully sappy, Baekhyun can’t help but laugh into the other’s lips when they eventually pull back.

“We’re so cliché,” Baekhyun laughs again, turning his face to bury into the crook of Chanyeol’s shoulder. He feels arms wrap around him soon after, holding him close and letting him snuggle into a stronger chest.

“We are pretty cute,” Chanyeol affirms and Baekhyun can feel the other’s lips turning into a smile against the top of his head.

They continue to stay plastered to each other but Baekhyun doesn’t even have the strength to move. Not like he wants to. He’d rather stay moulded to Chanyeol like this, especially if the alternative is moving away and letting go of the warm body heat. No, it’s nice like this. Hopefully he’ll be able to stay like this forever.

“Maybe now you can officially introduce me to your friends.”

“As my boyfriend?” Baekhyun asks, turning his face up so he can observe Chanyeol’s expression. The other just smiles at him, moving down and pressing a peck on Baekhyun’s lips.

“Yes, as your boyfriend.”

When Baekhyun eventually leaves Chanyeol’s embrace—and that’s only because a customer comes in and his  _boyfriend_ is forced to tend to the newcomer—he feels the warmth in his stomach and wonders how he could ever mistake his like for Chanyeol to be anything less than real affection.

And Baekhyun thinks, staring at the way in which Chanyeol’s body flitters from instrument to instrument, maybe it’s okay that Chanyeol seems to know practically everyone in existence. It doesn’t change how they feel about each other.

*~*

“ _Baekhyun_?”

“I quit Jongdae. I fucking quit, I fucking—”

“ _What? What’s wrong, Baek?”_

“He knows my fucking  _mother_ , I’m leaving. I’m honest to God leaving and I’m going to canoe to China and—”

 

~the end~

 


End file.
